


Timing was never their strong point

by idontwantperfection



Series: Descendants AUs & such like [7]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M, Surprise Baby, TW: Early Stages of Labour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27197704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idontwantperfection/pseuds/idontwantperfection
Summary: “Ben called. Something happened to Lonnie. I don’t know the details. Neither did he, Mal just ran into his office screaming for a doctor and ran back out again. Now move.”Sometimes, all it takes a good scare for a man to get his act together.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Jay/Li Lonnie
Series: Descendants AUs & such like [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960822
Comments: 19
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The trigger warning is because...well I need advance warning for any kind of childbirth / labour type thing.
> 
> This has been sitting in my google docs for a while, and I finally got around to posting.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mal frowned, standing up from her desk and heading towards Lonnie.

They were planning next month's fundraiser for the Isle’s Scholarship fund. Normally Jane helped out, but she was in the middle of her final year project for her business degree and stressing out big style. So Mal had taken the executive decision to leave the Gala until next season, and enlisted Lonnie to help her host a three day charity sports event instead.

They’d have a day of Swords & Shields, a day of Tourney, and a day of random sports from around the world. It was inclusive, scalable, and involved exactly zero layers of chiffon. 

Mal had just stepped away to her computer to check the list of vendors, when Lonnie groaned for the sixth time in as many minutes.

“Yeah I’m fine,” she exhaled heavily, gripping onto the back of the sofa. “I must have pulled something in my back at practice, I think I just keep moving the wrong-”

Lonnie gasped again, her knuckles going white as she gripped the wooden frame.

“I’m calling for the royal physician.” Mal said slowly, eyeing her friend warily as she stood and rounded the desk.

In the six years she had known Lonnie, she had never known the girl to have a low pain threshold. She had finished her first international Swords & Shields tournament on a sprained ankle, and still came home with the gold. 

Jay had been furious when he realised she hadn’t gotten medical attention. But that was just another quirk of the non-couple that Mal had learned to live with. 

In their final year at Auradon Prep, when they were all turning eighteen, both her friends had mentioned something about ‘not tying the other down in a long distance relationship’. Apparently, there was too much to experience without being chained to someone on the other side of the country. 

What if they met someone else. What if Jay was only with Lonnie because he hadn’t seen life outside of the school. (That was her, not him.) What if their schedules got so crazy they started neglecting each other. (His argument, not hers.) What if the media started causing problems. 

‘It was easier this way.’ 

‘No hard feelings on either side.’

It was crazy. They’d spent the eight months before completely inseparable. But they were...fine with it. 

Their friends, not so much. 

Carlos told Jay he was an idiot for letting her go. Jane cried. Evie sat them both down for failed interventions. Ben gave Mal a run for her money with his plotting. Mal spiked them both with truth serum.

It didn’t make a difference. 

Jay went off to Sherwood University, Lonnie joined Jane and Carlos at the University of Auradon. They’d both gone on dates with other people, at least for the first year. Mal refused to say they  _ dated _ other people, because that would suggest seeing the same person more than once.

But they also vacationed together. Attended each other’s games. Went out on what could only be described as dates, with each other, at least once a month. Attended royal and social events together.

At Doug and Evie’s wedding eight months ago, they spent the whole night wrapped up in each other. And everyone pretended not to notice when they’d sneaked off around 11pm.

Mal knew Lonnie hadn’t been on a date with someone other than Jay in almost two years. That she hadn’t slept with someone other than Jay since her third month of college.

She  _ also _ knew that Jay hadn’t slept with anyone other than Lonnie since he was seventeen. (Despite that, his body count was still a lot higher than hers. He hadn’t missed out on  _ anything _ .) He’d spent the last eighteen months ensuring that she was too busy with him to even consider dating anyone else.

Mal had suggested to them both, separately, that they drop the pretence that they were waiting until they’d finished college to decide that they’d experienced enough to settle down. There was nothing to say that Isle experience didn’t count. That your first love couldn’t be True Love. She and Evie weren’t more likely to leave Ben and Doug just because they’d married young. 

Lonnie and Jay had both made excuses, and Mal rolled her eyes and offered them more tea. She tried to stay out of it. 

She was a vault when it came to her friends’ love lives. It was the only way to survive when you were friends with couples. If Jane complained about Carlos bringing home another stray, Mal rolled her eyes and offered more tea. If Carlos complained about Jane nixing the idea of bearded dragons, she rolled her eyes and offered more tea. 

If anyone was going to interfere, it would be Ben. Her husband just didn’t know when to stop.

Deciding she would send off a quick text to Jay while she was getting her bodyguard to summon the doctor, Mal headed for the door. She refused to have someone sitting in the room with her 24/7, so she let them patrol the halls instead.

Before she could move beyond the sofa, she heard a splash and was instantly filled with dread.

Lonnie’s face was an expression of pure horror, and it was probably mirrored on Mal’s as she peeked around the sofa. Her eyes went from the puddle on the floor, to her friends'  _ definitely flat  _ stomach, and back to the floor again. 

Gesturing to the puddle gingerly, Mal tried to stay calm as she whispered, “I really hope you just wet yourself and not-”

Mal was cut off by another two gushes of liquid in quick succession, followed by another groan that confirmed that this was  _ definitely _ what she was afraid of.

“I’ll go get help,” Mal squeaked, her voice shooting through the octaves. She bolted for the door and yanked it open. 

Thankfully Arthur, her personal bodyguard, was heading back up the corridor and there was some staff dusting the ornaments in the hall. Mal wasn’t sure what she’d have done in an empty hallway. She barely tossed them a look as she screamed, _ “Somebody  _ get me a doctor _ , right now!” _

She headed straight for Ben’s office across the hall, yanking the door open and disrupting whatever committee meeting he was chairing. 

Ben had obviously heard her scream, because he was on his feet and heading towards the door when she barged in. Eyes wide, looking like she’d stared into the bowels of hell and they’d looked right back, Mal was barking orders before the door was fully open, “Call Carlos. We need to get Jay here. It’s Lonnie.”

And then she turned, bolting straight back into her office. 

Her friend needed her. Even if she didn’t have a _fucking_ _clue_ what she was doing.


	2. Chapter 2

Jay was in the kill zone when he heard the referee blow the whistle for a time out. 

He skidded to a stop, almost crashing into a member of the opposing team. He turned towards the referee, looking for some kind of explanation, but instead he suddenly had Carlos in his face. 

Grabbing him by the shoulder, Carlos began dragging Jay off the field. Jay couldn’t hear his words properly - the sound of the crowd and his helmet were making it hard to hear - but he could feel the urgency radiating off his best friend.

“Dammit, stop!” Jay snapped, shrugging Carlos off as he ripped his helmet off. Whatever was going on, it was important enough that Carlos merely reached around again, grabbed his arm and continued dragging him off the field. 

“Carlos. What’s going on?” Jay began to feel fear knot in his stomach, a sense of dread brewing. He hadn’t seen this side of Carlos since the Isle.

He shrugged Carlos off again, and this time Carlos stopped too. He spun to face Jay, finally letting him see his own panic. This wasn’t the Isle. They didn’t always need to be alert. Waiting for the bad to happen. 

Carlos might be using muscle memory to react, but his heart was in Auradon. “Ben called. Something happened to Lonnie. I don’t know the details. Neither did he, Mal just ran into his office screaming for a doctor and ran back out again. Now  _ move _ .”

Carlos didn’t have to tell Jay twice. He took off at a sprint, ignoring the way his coach was yelling after him.

This was his girl. He’d ask for forgiveness later. 

Jane was already in the car, her face pale and drawn. She and Lonnie had been roommates since they were eleven. Now, at twenty two, they shared an apartment. Carlos had moved in with  _ them _ . 

Carlos pushed Jay into the back seat, sliding into the driver's seat. As much as it pained him, Jay knew he couldn’t drive right now.

Instead, he let Carlos speed out of the parking lot while he pulled out his phone. 

Opening his most recent calls, he clicked her name and prayed that she’d answer.

They’d spoken just before his game. She’d sounded off. Tired. Sore. Practice had been a bitch that morning. She was heading over to help Mal with planning when she really just wanted to climb into bed.

Jay was glad she’d gone. It meant she hadn’t been alone.

Her phone went to voicemail, cheerfully informing him that she couldn’t come to the phone right now. 

Jay cut it off and pressed redial, trying to ignore the sudden reel of ‘ways to die featuring Li Lonnie’ that began playing in front of his eyes.

She would be okay. 

She had to be. 

…

Jay was out of the car before Carlos had slowed to a stop. 

If he was thinking straight, he’d be impressed. Carlos had cut the four hour drive down to just under two hours. 

Ben, he assumed, had dispatched a police escort that had met them after the first twenty minutes. He couldn’t answer his fucking phone. But he could send an escort. 

That terrified him. 

No one would answer him. Mal had turned her phone off after the first half hour, now she was going straight to voicemail. Ben was ringing out. He’d gotten through to Evie who had promised to head straight over to the Palace and would let him know what was happening. She didn’t. And then she’d turned her phone off too. 

Jane withheld her number and called Doug. When he realised who it was, he hung up immediately.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. 

Half an hour out from the Palace, Carlos got a call from one of their escorts telling him to head for the hospital. 

Carlos tried to convince him it was a good thing. She was obviously getting help. Olympia didn’t have a trauma centre, so she couldn’t be bad.

Jay just growled, pointing out if it wasn’t bad she wouldn’t need a hospital. He spent the rest of the journey trying not to cry. 

He would not cry. Not until he was alone. 

He’d wasted so much time. So much time going along with her  _ stupid _ plan. 

She wanted him to choose her after he’d lived a little. Not resent her for trapping him when he was fresh off the Isle. 

As if he could ever do that. 

Jay knew a good thing when he had it. And for him, it didn’t get much better than Lonnie. 

He’d tried to respect her wishes. Thought maybe there were things she wanted to experience too. It’s not like True Love came with a time limit. 

About two years ago he decided if he couldn’t change her mind - not that he’d tried - he’d make sure she was too busy with him to even think of anyone else.

He wasn’t sure how well it was working. Some days he felt like she was all his. And others he wasn’t convinced. 

That ended today. 

If she was okay. And she  _ had _ to be. No more wasted time. No more pretending.

She was his and goddammit he was going to start acting like it.

A member of the Guard met him at the entrance, correctly reading his mood and simply stating, “Royal Suite. Third floor, room 308.”

He pointed towards the elevators and the stairs, and Jay took off again.

He didn’t have time to wait for the elevator. He was faster. 

He took the stairs two at a time, trying to keep himself calm. The closer he got, the worse he felt.

While he was in the car, he was in limbo. But now he was racing towards someone telling him how bad it was.

How much time he’d wasted.

She needed to be okay.


	3. Chapter 3

Bursting through the door to the third floor, Jay searched for anything that could direct him to Lonnie’s room. He didn’t need to look too hard, the streak of purple heading towards him was a dead giveaway.

“They’re fine, but you need to stop and breathe for a minute.” Mal tried to soothe him as Ben grabbed his shoulders, half pulling him in for a hug, half restraining him. 

“Since when did you two stop answering your fucking phones?” Jay growled, his feelings towards the couple clear, “Where is she? I need to see her.”

“They’re fine.” Ben repeated, gripping onto Jay as he tried to escape and barrel in the direction they had come from. “But you need to calm down before you go in there.”

“What happened?” Jay knew he sounded desperate when he pulled back from Ben, turning away and gripping his hair in his hands. 

He wanted to believe them. But they wouldn’t let him see her. That meant it was something bad. They were preparing him for the worst. 

He was such an idiot. 

He didn’t notice the way Ben and Mal shared a glance. He just heard the way Mal sounded ill when she responded, “She got hurt at practice. Landed on her back. It wasn’t a problem until…”

Mal could stomach anything.  _ Anything. _ She used to take more beatings than any of them.

“We had to order a media blackout.” Ben cut in, his arms out to stop Jay when he tried to sneak past again. Jay wondered if Ben would be so calm if it was Mal in a hospital bed, or if he’d admit that he would be storming around barking orders at anyone within shouting distance. “We couldn’t hide the ambulance coming into the Palace so we did what we had to do to keep it quiet until you got here.”

Ambulance. There was an  _ ambulance. _

Jay felt what blood was left in his face drain away, the reel of ways she could die beginning again. 

As if he knew where Jay’s mind was going, Ben grasped him by the shoulders. The sudden movement - he wouldn’t call it a shake, because _King_ _Ben_ did not grab people and shake sense into them - jolted Jay back to reality. He finally met Ben’s eye as his friend promised, “Lonnie’s okay, Jay. They both are.”

There was something in Ben’s voice that made Jay believe him. Ben couldn’t lie to save himself. 

Before he could dwell on that point, Mal raised her hand and piped in, _ “I’m _ not okay. But this isn’t about me. The main thing is they’re fine.”

With the panic subsiding a fraction, Jay’s brain began processing the words. And he suddenly realised he’d been missing one critical point, “Why do you keep saying they?”

He was positive Ben and Mal had said it at least six times. They. Not her. 

What was going on?

“Because they are.” Ben clapped Jay on the shoulder and led him back down the hall. He still wasn’t convinced, but he focused on staying calm. Ben and Mal clearly wouldn’t let him in otherwise.

Ben opened the door to room 308 - with two guards outside and the blinds drawn - and pushed Jay inside without a word. 

He found her immediately, and felt a weight lift off his chest when he saw Lonnie sitting cross legged on the bed. She looked exhausted, and her hair was pulled into a plait over one shoulder.

She was alive. And awake. 

And definitely not dead.

And then he noticed the bundle in the blanket she was cuddling to her chest.

The air left his lungs in a whoosh. 

He was staring, he knew he was. 

The tears that had been threatening since Carlos had dragged him off the pitch began prickling behind his eyes. 

He was too late.

He was such an idiot.

Looking off to the side, focusing on the window, because the window didn’t make his heart hurt, he reached up to hold the back of his neck. He didn’t know why, he just needed to do something with his hands. 

“So,” why did he sound like he’d swallowed razor blades? He swallowed, and tried again, “I guess congratulations are in order?”

Lonnie laughed at him.

Jay’s heart stopped at the sound. On the one hand, he’d worried he’d never hear that sound again. On the other, he’d never pegged her for cruel. All he could do was look back at her, and try to work out why she was smiling, holding her hand out towards him. 

“Don’t be an idiot, Jay. Of course she’s yours.”

The look she gave him told Jay she knew exactly what he was thinking. And she was calling bullshit on it.

She knew his mind was telling him that the baby couldn’t be his. That she’d have told him if she was pregnant. That it didn’t matter how much he tried to fit into Auradon, he still had his past. And things like this - families and babies - it didn’t happen to guys like him.

“Come here,” she whispered encouragingly, her hand still outstretched.

He went easily, drawn to her like he always was. He still wasn’t convinced, but when he sat next to her on the bed and looked down...he knew.

The baby - _his_ _daughter_ \- was asleep. The first thing he noticed was the mop of black hair on her head. He didn’t think babies could have that much hair. The next thing was the shape of her eyes - _his eyes._

Reaching out carefully, as if he was scared he’d break her, Jay ran a finger over her cheek. 

It was more than the similarities. It was like his heart recognised that she was his. That she fit, and he didn’t even notice she’d been missing.

“You smell like a gym bag.” Lonnie groaned, but she still leant in to rest her head on his shoulder.

He wound his arm around her, anchoring her to his side. It felt surreal, Lonnie on one arm, and his hand cupped around their baby. For a moment, he wondered if he’d gone down in the kill zone. 

Maybe he’d been knocked unconscious. That would make sense too. 

“I didn’t exactly stop to change when Carlos dragged me off the field.” He shrugged, but he wasn’t thinking about the words.

He was counting backwards. Doing the math. 

Trying to work out how they’d missed the signs. 

“She had great timing.” Lonnie mused, settling in closer to Jay. She laced her fingers through his free hand, squeezing as she continued, “I’d make a joke about doing all the work for her to come out looking like her dad, but I genuinely didn’t know. Nothing stopped.”

Jay just nodded, not knowing quite what to say. They didn’t see each other often enough that he knew her cycle by heart, but he could think of at least three occasions where they’d snugged on his sofa with a hot water bottle between them. 

“Apparently it’s called a cryptic pregnancy. And apparently some women bleed throughout pregnancy anyway. And because I’m an athlete and tall enough, my ‘tight abdominal muscles’ hid the bump and I just carried her differently.” Lonnie shrugged, not quite sounding like she believed that, but accepting she had no other explanation.

Jay couldn’t imagine what was going through her head. To wake up this morning and go to practice like normal and then...this. “What happened this morning?”

“Well, training was a bitch. I landed funny on my back. Thought I’d tweaked something. Nope, I set off labour.” Her laugh was dry, humourless. He didn’t think they’d be joking about this for a long time. 

Lonnie paused again, reaching out to run her fingers through the baby’s hair. “I  _ think _ she’s about three weeks early. Forty weeks ago I was in Tokyo, and you were in preseason. Evie’s wedding was the first time we’d seen each other in a month. And I’d just finished those antibiotics for that bug bite.”

The penny dropped. He remembered her getting bitten by some tropical insect and the bite on her arm becoming very infected very quickly. He’d still been at home, getting half the story from her because she didn’t want to worry him, and detailed texts from Carlos who was trying to keep Jane from getting on a plane to Tokyo. 

At Evie’s wedding, they’d been so busy getting reacquainted, they hadn’t even thought about...

“Are you sure I didn’t get tackled just a little too hard?”

Jay expected her to slap his chest in annoyance. Instead she laughed at him again. He wasn’t sure what was so funny.

A dodgy tackle seemed just as likely as a surprise baby.

“Positive. I would  _ not _ have suffered that much pain if this was your dream.”

His stomach knotted. It was so easy to forget the mechanics when it was after the event. He’d never witnessed actual childbirth, but from what he’d seen on TV it was not something for the faint hearted.

“I should have been here.” Pulling her closer to his side, he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. An apology. An affirmation. Everything he was trying to find the words to say. 

“You’re here now.” Lonnie shifted, leaning up to capture his lips in a gentle kiss. After a moment, she pulled away and rested her forehead against his, her eyes closed. “We need to pick a name.” She paused. Then laughed. “I have no clue where to start.”

“Hey,” Jay murmured, instinctively shifting the baby into his arms - he realised a moment too late that he’d never held a baby before - and pulled Lonnie onto his lap.

Both his girls in his arms. That was all he needed.

He didn’t even know he needed it until today.

But now he wasn’t letting it go.

Ever. 

“We got this,” he promised, already running through the steps he’d take as soon as he made himself leave the room. 

A transfer to UoA. 

A new apartment. 

No doubt Evie already had the baby supplies en route. 

“My brain is just catching up with reality,” she groaned, hiding her face in his chest. Jay knew she was still processing. That the tears would come later, when she was home and could breathe and she woke up with the baby still there. 

All he could do was be there for her. He held her tighter.

“I heard the doctors talking to Mal. They said sometimes moms don’t bond with the babies when things go wrong in childbirth, or that I might think it’s a spell or something. But I don’t feel like that. She’s mine and I’ll fight anyone who tries to hold her too long.”

Another sigh. 

Another wiggle closer. 

Moving his arms so they were both holding the baby.

“You’d tell me if you thought I was struggling.”

It hadn’t been a question. It was a statement. He wasn’t expected to answer.

Another sigh.

“But now I’m thinking about finding a new apartment because living on the eighth floor does not fit with a stroller, and delaying my final semester, and getting everything we need on short notice… and my parents are insisting on a DNA test. You’re the only option, but it’s to protect us all.”

Jay fought to keep his expression neutral. 

It was a perfectly natural reaction from her parents. His father would suggest the same thing.

They weren’t officially together. She had her future to consider. And he...he was worth a lot. Collage tourney didn’t pay, but endorsements, advertising and PR deals did. Plus his occasional diplomatic work for Ben and Mal. Jafar may be a mostly reformed evil lunatic, but he was a shrewd businessman. 

After passing his rehabilitation courses, Jafar had noticed a contract offer Jay hadn’t got around to reading or passing off to Mal’s lawyers and realised it was a terrible deal. He renegotiated the contract, getting Jay far more flexibility and benefits than he’d even dream to ask for. 

After that, Jay had taken him on as his manager, and Jafar he’d taken on more ex-VK athletes. Jay kept his father in line, but Jafar had been on his best behaviour. He’d found a way to be successful and powerful without the evil - and he took a certain pleasure from getting one over on the powers that be in Auradon’s sporting scene. They were used to exerting their power over teenagers who didn't know any better. And now Jafar got to get in their way.

If anything, he would probably be upset that someone else had suggested the DNA test first. 

God, Jafar was a grandfather.  _ That _ was a scary thought.

_ “We _ need to get a new apartment.” Jay clarified, once he was sure his voice wouldn’t betray him, “This ‘pretending we aren’t serious’ thing hasn't been fooling anyone. I’ll put the transfer paperwork in tomorrow. There’s only a few weeks of the semester left, then I can start at AoU in the new year.”

Whatever Jay had expected, it wasn’t Lonnie pulling back to punch his arm angrily, “No. Jay. You can’t. Sherwood is your best chance of going pro. You have scouts from all the big clubs looking at you.”

With willpower he didn’t know he possessed, Jay managed to keep his tone even. Lonnie had had a long day. She was still trying to protect him and do what was best for him. He could appreciate that.

She was completely and utterly wrong. But he knew not to say that out loud.

Instead, he reached out to cup her face with his free hand. Running a thumb over her cheekbone, he promised, “If you’re going to be here, so am I. Family first. We’re doing this together.  _ Properly.” _

Jafar wasn’t winning any parent of the year awards, but he’d been there at least. 

Jay wanted to do better than that. 

He was all in. One thousand percent in.

Lonnie was silent for a moment, before she quietly admitted, “Ben already told me my scholarship with the Guard is safe.” 

She paused, “We could always come to you.”

And there was the Lonnie he knew. 

Independent to a fault, always thinking of what was best for other people...but she’d let him in. He just had to out-stubborn her first.

“That could work,” he smiled, settling back against the pillows, content with the progress he’d made and willing to wait before he brought up anything more serious. It would be unfair to push an agenda now.

Not that he was  _ opposed _ to leveraging the situation...but he knew she’d kick his ass when she realised. 

He’d be happy with getting her to agree to move in.

For now.

“You realise your scholarship was always safe,” he added with a laugh, attempting to distract her.

The Guard had wanted Lonnie straight out of high school, but Ben had pushed back, making them wait until she’d finished college. He wasn’t about to backtrack on that now.

Lonnie laughed, throwing a glance towards the closed door. Leaning in, she whispered conspiringly, “You should have heard Mal. ‘She’s Queen and she caught the baby so the scholarship committee will do whatever the fuck she tells them to.’ Who can argue with that logic?”

Jay grinned, knowing that was probably the polite version. He would need to hear Mal’s version of events at some point.

Preferably with _a_ _lot_ of alcohol. 

“I’ll probably have just over a year off. Start back next January. We’d know where you’ll be based by then.”

“I’ve actually been meeting with the Arrows.” Jay admitted, absentmindedly stroking the baby’s hair. The Arrows were a top three team in Auradon, and most importantly, they were based in the capital. His father was the only one who knew about the meetings for now. It wasn’t a sure thing, but he’d already been taking steps in the direction he wanted. 

Surprise flashed through Lonnie’s eyes, followed by understanding. 

He’d let her off for now. Come tomorrow she’d have no questions on exactly how he felt about her. 

For now, he just pulled her closer, “I hate being six hours away.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. So before we get into questions of realism, cryptic pregnancies are a thing. They don’t just exist for dramatic effect in tv shows - I know two girls who didn’t know until 2 and 6 weeks before they had the baby, and it happened to a woman at work ‘before my time’ - she left on the Friday and got a surprise baby over the weekend. 
> 
> At least I couldn’t miss being sick forty odd times a day!😂


End file.
